As the Philadelphia Eagles sit at home preparing for next season, their NFC rival San Francisco 49ers will look to add a sixth Lombardi Trophy to the hardware case when they take on the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Sunday.
But as the Niners went through media day on Monday, they couldn’t avoid questions about the Eagles. San Francisco star receiver Deebo Samuel was quick to brush it off, though hardly shied away from throwing some shade at the Eagles when given the chance.
When asked about the rivalry, Samuel had this to say:
“I consider rivalries close games,” he said. ” … We ain’t going to talk about that no more. That’s over with.”
Passionate Eagles fans will likely counter quickly with a reminder of how last year’s NFC Championship went. Though the first-quarter injury to quarterback Brock Purdy was notable, the Eagles likely would’ve dominated either way in what ended as a 31-7 blowout.
The Niners currently have the last laugh after throttling Philly in Week 12 this season in a 42-19 win. This was the beginning of the end for the Eagles, who lost six of their final seven games, including the Wild Card loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
If rivalries are considered “close games” in Samuel’s eyes, both teams have an argument after trading blowout wins the past two seasons.
During Super Bowl week, the Eagles aren’t San Francisco’s focus and Samuel was right to quickly move on from the Philly-related questions. But based on his shade-filled response, he unintentionally revealed that he thinks it’s a rivalry whether he’ll admit it or not.